To Claim the Elvin Princess: Apprentice (36 page)

2

After this cautionary chat, Elisa’s mood was even less warm and fuzzy, especially regarding wizardry. Helping her mother clean up the kitchen did nothing to improve her outlook; scrubbing pots and pans while her mother used magic to banish the dirt from all the plates and glassware seemed intended to rub Elisa’s nose in her lack. Grace suspected this was the effect, a not unexpected or unintentional thing. That Elisa suspected it to be the nature of things just made her more determined to say nothing.

When they were almost done, Grace came to stand behind Elisa, and put her hands on her shoulders.

“You’re adorable when you act stubborn! You’ve likely forgotten, but when you were being potty trained, you’d say
no
! when asked if you need to go potty...and then stand there and pee in your panties! It was so cute! I bet all your friends would love to hear that?”

“Mom!” Elisa shrieked. “You wouldn’t dare...would you? I’d die if you did that!” she moaned.

“Worse things are in store for you, if you don’t heed our advice...Elisa...we love you. No one here wants you to suffer. But understand this; we can’t protect you constantly either. Not all wizards are nice and lovable like us...several would turn you into an enchanted slave in a heartbeat, if they could!”

“Why me...and not someone else?” Elisa demanded. Missy had wandered in, and decided to explain it.

“Because you’re cute and sexy, and some nasty troll of a wizard would love to take advantage of you! Besides, there aren’t a lot of young, yummy girl wizards who aren’t at least reasonably able to defend themselves. You, sister dear, are easy pickings!” Missy declared.

“Where do you get...mom! She’s crazy, isn’t she?!” Elisa demanded, sounding a lot more hopeful than sure.

“No, she’s not. Being eaten by some enchanted beast is likely less terrible than ending up someone’s love slave...don’t you imagine? Say, someone like Master Hendari?” Grace suggested quietly. Elisa’d loud shriek was impressive even to Missy, who was grinning wickedly. The master’s true form was downright ugly.

“You’d just love to be his, wouldn’t you?” Missy snickered. She was quickly being pursued by Elisa through the house, while trying desperately to cast a spell. She almost succeeded, but before she managed to get the last words out, running up the stairs, Elisa managed to snag her foot. Missy ended up sprawled face down on the upstairs carpet, and before she could leap back up, Elisa had pounced, and begun to tickle her helpless sister. Missy’s shrieks and hysterical laughter delighted her family, who had all suffered from her precocious snotiness and wicked pranks.

Having captured Missy, and having her utterly helpless, Elisa wasted no time in getting even, tickling her victim until she had thoroughly wet her pants. Only then did she allow her to get up.

“Look what you made me do!” Missy complained loudly.

“Oh, boo, hoo! You deserve worse, smarty! Give me a hug, and promise you won’t do anything to get even!”

“I’ll try not to...” Missy sighed. This was a bit lacking in reliability so she found herself again being tickled.

“Stop! Stop! Okay...I promise!” she shrieked.

“That’s more like it!” Elisa sighed.

By the time Elisa slipped into bed, she was tired and worn out, her fretting having bothered her more than she would have been willing to admit. She had turned back and forth, trying to get comfy, and when she was almost asleep, she heard what sounded like her closet door opening. Since her door had never evinced any tendency to not stay closed, this disturbed her. She listened intently, feeling stupid and foolish; she had never been the least scared of the dark, or strange noises at night. Still, she lay still, listening fully, many minutes, before finally turning on her lamp, and leaping up to confront what ever was responsible. She found the closet door firmly shut, and standing, hand on the knob, she held her breath, and turned the knob, jerking the door open.

“Ahhhhh!” she squeaked, when something fell at her, causing her to let go of the door knob and leap sideways. A tall pole, that had once held a flag for the cheerleading color guard was soon lying on the carpet. “Great! I almost pee myself over this?” she mumbled, feeling utterly cowardly and foolish. She put the errant pole in the farthest back corner of the closet, behind the clothing and rod, so there would be no possibility of it falling out again. Closing the door firmly, she started to turn back to her bed, but instead, reached out and tugged on the door knob; the door was firmly latched and wouldn’t budge.

“Okay, sissy, get back in bed!” she whispered to scold herself for being afraid.

It took longer for her to get drowsy the second time, as she listened intently, in spite of her determination not too. She had started to slip into a deep sleep, when the creaking of a door brought her back from the depths instantly. The creaking was long and slow, sounding like that of a door in an old horror movie. In spite of her resolve, she was reluctant to reach for her lamp. The urge to pull up the covers and hide was nearly irresistible. Finally, she got mad enough to toss the covers off, and sit up, turning to address the lamp. She expected to be well embarrassed when she found nothing of note. Instead, she screamed, turning toward the closet, and finding the door wide open, and the flag pole lying on the floor.

Her screams summoned everyone, and it took several minutes for them to make sense of her story. Rue shook his head, trying not to grin.

“Looks like someone’s cursed your butt!” he said, unhelpfully.

“It’s not funny!” Elisa shrieked, her eyes wet.

“Why don’t you sleep in Missy’s room...her spells are strong enough to ward against whatever this is. We’ll de-curse your room tomorrow,” her father suggested, nodding toward the closet. Elisa felt like she had been paddled in front of all her friends, the idea that she was such a failure that even her little sister was more grown up and skilled than her being a wicked blow to her self esteem.

“Come on...I won’t let the big, bad, embonium eat you!” Missy teased, unhelpfully.

Missy’s room held a spare twin bed, she having friends sleep over frequently. She managed to slip into bed while Missy ran to the bathroom. When the younger girl returned, she stepped up close to Elisa, and looked down on her, nibbling on her lower lip.

“Sis...it just frosts your butt being in here, doesn’t it?” Elisa would have loudly complained, but Missy made a swift series of gestures, with only her fingers, before reaching up and putting a single index finger on Elisa’s lips. Much to her shock, she was unable to utter a peep. “Hush!” Missy cautioned, a bit un-necessarily, in light of her very efficient spell. “You’re so stubborn! You need to learn the craft! I know, you’re afraid the boys won’t want to deal with you, if you’re a full fledged wizard!” Elisa was turning a nice shade of red from her aggravation and outrage.

“Calm your butt down, or I’ll put you to sleep!” Missy insisted. Her sister, to whom awareness that Missy had mastered such arcane powers was a surprise, stared with wide eyes.

“You think that’s wicked? I know how to make you pee yourself while walking down the hall in school, sissy poo! While you’ve been dreaming about boys, I’ve been working to master the arts...all of them...even the sorta dark ones.” She touched Elisa’a lips again, and her sister was free to comment.

“Do mom and dad know that?” was her first question.

“No, and you aren’t telling them either!” Missy whispered. She made a precise and fast series of gestures, and spoke a series of words that were completely unknown to Elisa, and when Missy reached out and lightly touch Elisa’s nose, she felt a strong thrill, much like a static shock.

“Ow! What was that?!” she demanded, rubbing her nose.

“A spell...basically a compulsion...to keep you from saying anything about what I’m doing! I’m likely to need an understanding of the dark side of magic, especially to save your dumb butt from the evil that will be plaguing you!”

“Great! So I’m going to be dependant on your whims? I’m so screwed!” Elisa loudly sighed.

“Just be glad I love you as much as I do!” Missy declared, and giggled, before giving Elisa a hug.

She lay quietly, listening to Missy establish a ward, a complex spell that was intended to guard their space from evil intrusion. She was delighted to hear no creaking doors, and was soon asleep, more relaxed and calm than she would have thought possible. She had last though how amazingly much she trusted Missy’s skill. That was also hugely annoying.

In the morning, she was confronted by a reason to be less sure. She had woken, and reached down to scratch her butt, which had a small, stray itch. She was lying on her side, curled up, and it took several moments for her brows to furrow, puzzled. She had gone to bed wearing a cute, soft nightie, the top having matching panties. Elisa never slept bare, unlike Missy and most of the others in the family. She wasn’t in the habit of shedding either the top or bottom, yet she belatedly realized that she was scratching her bare behind.

Hesitant to declare this fact, she turned down the covers, only to discover no missing panty. Likewise a search around the bed, and even in the bathroom, caused nothing to appear.

“What’s the matter?” Missy wondered, seeing Elisa’s frantic search.

“I...I went to bed...wearing my nightie, but when I woke, the panty’s gone! How crazy is that?!” she asked, exasperated.

“Whole lot of crazy!” Missy agreed. “Whole lot of wicked too!” she sighed under her breath. She said nothing more, eager to get dressed for school.

At the breakfast table, Elisa’s mood was hard to miss.

“Honey...what’s wrong?” her mother asked. Elisa shrugged, but stayed focused on her plate.

“She went to sleep wearing her nightie, but woke up missing the panty! There’s no sign of them upstairs anywhere!” Missy declared, glancing nervously from face to face.

“Really? Elisa...you’re sure you didn’t...”

“Yes I’m sure! What does this mean?!” she yelled.

Instead of answering, Arthur stared thoughtfully at Missy. “You warded the room? What level?” he asked quietly. Missy held up her left hand, displaying it open to indicate the number five. Elisa glanced up, to confront a table full of shocked and worried faces.

“What’s that mean?” she asked, clueless. Missy, busy buttering another piece of toast, looked thoughtful, before sighing.

“It means being eaten by an embonium is the least of your problems!” she succinctly declared.

“I hate magic!” Elisa shrieked, before bursting into tears. Missy hopped up, to join Grace in hugging the crying teen.

“You need to love it sister dear; nothing else will save your cute butt from a tragic fate!” Missy insisted, a bit too frank and snide for even a room full of wizards.

3

Elisa had been much distracted in school, mesmerized by the wicked situation she found herself in. Her mother had declared this quite forcefully at the breakfast table, shocking poor Elisa into paralyzed silence.

“The only way through your sister’s warding is by a deeply powerful spell! Your father might be able to effect such a breech, but none of the rest of us could do so!” Grace declared.

“I can,” Missy softly declared, “but don’t ask me how I learned...” she sighed, and instantly regretted being so forthcoming.

“Missssy?
Have you been dabbling with the dark arts again?!” her father demanded. Missy shook her head vigorously, hastily taking a huge bite of toast. She eyed Elisa, who wanted to speak, but could not, Missy’s compulsion superbly effective. She thought she might shake her head to contradict the younger sibling, but instead nodded, much to Missy’s relief.

“Well I certainly hope not! We’d beat your butt half off if we caught you doing that!” Grace suggested.

“Of course you would!” Missy agreed, sounding sweet and agreeable, displaying a monumental level of disingenuousness to Elisa. When no one was looking, Missy winked at Elisa, clearly pleased by this unexpected support.

“Mom...what does this mean? Who did this?” Elisa wondered. Everyone shrugged, before Arthur spoke.

“Mostly, it means some one very powerful has discovered that you have no ability to defend yourself. If they can swipe your panty off your bottom without waking you, they will be able to swipe all of you in due time! You won’t like that, I’m sure. No one honorable would steal a cute, sexy girl and no one powerful and evil would steal a cute girl just to have her bake cookies, I can assure you! Our problem is we have no idea who may be doing this! Missy, you’ll need to use a much higher ward at night!” Missy looked well put upon; placing the higher wards took a lot of
work
. When she left the table, she had given Elisa a hug and kissed her cheek; she also whispered in her ear.

“I own your butt!” she insisted, and giggled as she ran off. This did nothing to help Elisa’s mood.

She had begun to recover a bit after lunch, but this quickly proved unwise. She opened her locker, to change out books for the afternoon, and shrieked, when a half dozen snakes slithered out and headed off in all directions. She was instantly joined by fifty others, mostly girls, in her hysterical display. The teachers that arrived found nothing; no sign or trace of even a single snake. That a dozen girls all swore they had seen them, and worse, that they had come from Elisa’s locker, seemed to bode ill for the frazzled teen.

Before she could be ordered to the office, an older girl, one of the juniors named Tara, stepped up to the assembled teachers, and spoke quietly to them. Much to Elisa’s surprise, she and all the others were sent on to class She spent the balance of the day completely mystified and puzzled, unable to fathom what might have been said or even how the snakes ended up in her locker to begin with. She vaguely suspected that they were enchanted ones, not really real, but beyond that she had no clue.

Elisa was still in a fog, as she headed for the door, mostly oblivious to those around her. She was only half surprised to have a girl’s hand take hold of her arm, just above her elbow, and when it dawned on her that she was hearing a soft spoken spell, she would have panicked. Instead the one casting it tossed a pinch of iridescent powder in her face and touched her neck with a skilled and precise finger. Elisa would have wet herself, if she hadn’t been nearly paralyzed.

“You’re coming with me!” she was instructed, and felt herself turned around. It took nearly the entire walk back through the school, and out the back door to the lot where students were allowed to park their cars, before she could grasp that it was Tara, the girl who had intervened over the snakes, who had possession of her. Had she not been utterly enchanted, she would have been completely terrified, understanding what sort of magic had been used against her; this revealed Tara as a well experienced wizard. Instead, she floated along, as pliant as a stuffed animal.

“We’re going to get some ice cream, and talk!” Tara suggested, guiding Elisa into the car, and fastening her seatbelt; Elisa was as helpless as a tired two year old. She made no comment, powerless to resist. When she finally had Tara snap her fingers, she emerged partly from the charm, able to move her arms and talk, but still feeling heavy and disinclined to get up or escape. Tara handed her a large frozen treat, with spoon, and grinned. They were parked at a city park, under a shady tree.

“You had no idea I’m a wizard, did you?” Tara smugly declared. Elisa sat, mouth open, before finally sighing.

“None! Are you a good one or a wicked one?” she blurted out.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?!” the girl, a slightly chubby and dark haired one teased, eyes gleaming. “Honestly, if I were completely wicked I’d hate you!”

“Why?!” Elisa exploded, shocked and outraged.

Tara looked thoughtful a moment, before sighing.

“Because it’s not fair for any girl to be as pretty as you, when others aren’t! You could at least be a stuck up butt hole, but no, you have to be perfectly nice too!” Tara declared, her voice edgy. She suddenly wiped at her eyes and shrugged. “I hate being jealous! You don’t even know everyone thinks you’re a goddess, do you!” she managed to moan.

“How...that’s crazy...isn’t it?!” Elisa responded, her voice falling off at the end.  Tara gave her a look that made Elisa feel as dumb as a rock. “Oh. You really hate me?” she asked, tentative and weak, the idea that all her effort and desire to be nice and lovable might just make things worse.

“It’s tempting at times, frankly. But I try to not be so terrible. It’s hard enough hiding my wizardry, let alone not calling attention to myself by acting out over you!”

“I’m sorry!” Elisa insisted, sounding utterly sincere and chagrined. “So...how do you hide your abilities? My brother and sister have had a miserable time trying to do that! That’s why...” she hesitated to admit how untrained and powerless she was.

“Why you didn’t learn the arts? You’re a sitting duck...you know that?”

“I’m starting to figure that out! I just wanted to be a normal girl!” Elisa declared, bursting into tears. Tara reached out, and touched Elisa’s cheek gently.

“But you aren’t a normal girl! You’re a lot prettier than most, and a lot slower about your birthright than average too! Elisa! Something wicked will eventually happen to you, if you don’t get busy, and learn the arts! Your little sister can kick your butt!”

“You know Missy?” Elisa asked, shocked that a high school junior would know a junior high girl from outside her family or circle of friends.

“We try our skills against each other. She has much knowledge, not all of it on the
approved list
either. But then, so do I!”

“You’ve worked at the...the...”

“Dark arts? Yes indeed, and so has Missy, as you well know. She put a wicked charm on your butt, to keep you silent, didn’t she? And you have no way to evade it!” Tara giggled. This reminder of how lacking she was made her fume.

“Don’t get mad, put that energy into learning! No one can save you if you don’t!”

“So, do you know who’s trying to...do things to me?”

“Yes, I do,” Tara answered, but stopped, and said nothing more. Elisa noted the strained look on Tara’s face, and the reason dawned suddenly.

“Someone put a charm on you, so you can’t say who it is?”

“Wicked one too! I’d die if I tried hard enough to tell anyone!” Tara gasped.

“Oh, my. Is it someone in your family? Here?” Elisa wondered.  Tara looked like she was about to be sick, and quickly thrust her ice cream at Elisa, before opening the door, and leaping out. The sound of some unpleasant retching made Elisa queasy. When Tara returned, she flopped into the driver’s seat, looking pale, and her face was sweaty.

“Don’t ask any more questions!” the distressed girl whispered. “Just get off your butt and learn the craft! You need skills, and lots of them...” she whispered. “And you need them
now!
I want to help you, but I can only do so much!” she took back the container of Ice cream from Elisa, and stared inside it.

“Did you eat my goodie?” she teased. In spite of Elisa’s quick head shake
no,
Tara quickly gestured, and half of her ice cream disappeared, to reappear in Tara’s container.

“That’s not fair!” Elisa grumbled. Tara looked thoughtful a moment, before setting hers down. She made short work of casting another spell, and this one caused Elisa’s mouth to drop open. She wanted to shriek, but was too shocked.

“Problem?” Tara asked slyly, taking back her treat.

“My panty just disappeared off my butt!” she gasped.

“This? Tara asked, reaching behind the seat, and retrieving Elisa’s still sweaty undies. “How cute!” she declared, as Elisa snatched them, tucking them under her thigh. Her panty was covered by hearts and teddy bears. She had turned a nice shade of pinkish red.

“Did you...” she began, thinking to accuse Tara of her night time panty disappearance. She was greeted by a swift denial.

“No...and the one who did wouldn’t be inclined to return them either...consider yourself warned,” Tara sighed, looking guilty, before beginning to cry.

Before Tara took Elisa to her home, she put another spell on her, to keep her quiet. That Elisa was helpless to resist seemed to reinforce the older girl’s cautions handily. Still, she felt utterly violated, a state that she found unacceptable. She arrived at the dinner table frustrated and angry, but resolved to not be a victim. When the conversation got to the subject of her day, she surprised everyone by sitting up straight, and taking a deep breath.

“I’ve determined that I need to begin a proper study of the wizardly arts.
Pronto
!” she managed to declare. She was greeted by complete silence, until Missy, who had been alternating between staring at Elisa, and off into space, spoke.

“She’s got another charm hung on her...a deep and strong one. Someone wishes to keep her quiet...don’t they, sister?” Missy prodded.

Elisa managed to shrug, but otherwise looked in pain and put upon. Her father glanced around the table.

“Interesting...we need to get serious and help her, don’t we?” he asked. Missy, who had silently gotten up, and come to put her hands on either side of Elisa’s head, stood silent several moments, with her own eyes closed. She began mumbling something, but when she uttered a long and convoluted term, that made everyone else at the table frown in incomprehension, she suddenly shrieked, and was flung backwards, landing on her back, moaning. Caitlyn got to her first, and helped her sit up, as she shook her head and rubbed her eyes. Her father, who had kneeled beside her, looked sternly at her a moment.

“Someone lied about the dark arts, didn’t she?” he demanded, suspecting that Missy had used such a tool to try and bypass the spell on Elisa.

“Just a bit...but don’t try to paddle me...there’s a ninth level ward set to protect my butt!” she sighed, and grinned.

“Raising teen wizards will be the death of me!” he complained.

“It’s not making me all that happy either, if you’d care to know!” Elisa grumbled, looking miserable.